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by waluigi
2909 days ago
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Its a common misconception that proofs by contradiction are not constructive. Take the proof that √2 is irrational. What you are trying to prove is that √2 is not rational, or, constructively speaking, `√2 ∈ ℚ => ⊥`. So a proof that constructs such a function must construct a contradiction given the fact that √2 is irrational. This is both a proof by contradiction and a constructive proof. The same can be done with both of the proof you mentioned. Where you really start to run in to trouble is double negation. Evidence of ~~P comes as some function `(P -> ⊥) -> ⊥`, so there isn't really any way to create evidence of P from that. The lack of LEM really stems from this fact. If you try to run through the proof that `P v ~P => T`, you get stuck on double negation. However, it is true that `~~(P v ~P) => T`, which satisfies the gut feeling that LEM can't _not_ be true. |
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